An electric motor includes an armature system fixed to a shaft for rotation with the shaft. Also mounted on the shaft is a commutator. The commutator is contacted, around its periphery, by a plurality of commutator brushes which, through circuitry to which they are connected, effect a periodic reversal of current flow into the armature system as it rotates.
The commutator brushes are mounted in a commutator brush holder assembly. The commutator brush holder assembly includes a brush holder housing which forms one end of the housing for the motor itself. The brush holder housing contains the circuitry through which an external power source is connected to the armature system, through the brushes, and to a stator coil through fixed terminals. The brush holder housing also contains mounting structure for the brushes.
A conventional commutator brush holder assembly comprises more than twenty components which must be laboriously assembled, to a large extent by hand. In one well known assembly, the process involves four barrel terminals being crimped to four sections of connector wire. Two of the connector wires are then crimped to double "D" terminals. Six additional wire sections are next crimped to two double, double "D" terminals. Four brush holder clips are subsequently connected to four of the wires which are connected to the double, double "D" terminals, and bent to form receptacles for the brushes. The four barrel terminals are finally inserted into an external connector. Finally, the entire terminal, wire, brush holder clip, and connector sub-assembly is stuffed into a housing which has been molded separately of dielectric material.